Disclaimer: The characters, back ground story and anything else you recognise belongs to Rowling.
A/N: This may come as a surprise to those who are already following ths story. But I felt I had to redo the chapters and edit the storyline a bit since I realized they were too unevenly paced. I don't know how many of you are reading out there, so to the ones who have already read this, I can promise you that this version is far better than the earlier one. And to the new readers, I hope you enjoy the read. Do read and review.
Walking across King's Cross with her parents, making her way to Platform nine and three quarters, Lily was gripped by a wave of nostalgia. It was the last time she would be doing this, the last ime she would be boarding the Hogwarts Express on September 1st.
Everything seemed different to the same day seven years ago. 7 years ago she had been a small girl, holding hands with Severus, as they walked together towards the platform, Lily skitterishly nervous and her companion excited at finally being able to attend Hogwarts. She still remembered that day, when Petunia was morosely lagging behind her parents, bitter and jealous at not being able to go to Hogwarts. Well, Lily mused, some things never do change. It was still bitterness and jealousy that shaped Petunia's behaviour towards her. Lily blew out a large breath. Some things would never change, even with magic. Especially with magic.
Regardless, it still amazed her how much her life had changed since she had stepped into the Magical World. Seven years ago, when she had stepped into the wayward platform she had been a eleven year old muggleborn, excited about a whole new world of possibilities that she could explore with her best friend. She had read about it all and was itching to physically step into this fantasy world. The Wizarding World was everything she had expected it to be and more. Stone castles, forbidden forests, Giant Squids, great lakes, ugly mermaids, confusing centaurs, trick walls, friendly ghosts, wonderful friends and not to mention maniacs obssessed with blood purity and power. All this package, of course meant that she could still regale the two people walking beside her, William and Elizabeth Evans with the quirky stories about Hogwarts.
She turned to hug both of them and William Evans kissed his youngest daughter on the forehead before pulling back. "Bye Mum, bye Dad", she whispered. Her Mum patted her cheek one last time before they bid their farewells until Christmas. "Bye Honey, make sure you write every now and then".
She nodded and turned towards the platform. Waving back to her parents for the last time, she squared her shoulders and made her way through the barrier to platform 9 and 3/4, pushing her trolley. Squaring her shoulders she walked forward, searching for a glimpse of one of her friends.
She saw many familiar faces as she walked across the Platform, towards the train, but none that she was actually looking for. She was already tired of nodding and waving to her schoolmates by the time she caught sight of Remus Lupin, about to board the train himself.
Lily shouted over the din, so he could hear her "Oi Lupin". Remus turned around and smiled when he saw the red-head. He finished loading his trunk and waited for her as she dragged her trolley toward the luggage compartment. They hugged briefly, when she reached him. As they began loading her trunk Lily thought that given his conditon, Remus looked rather well at the moment, thoguh appearances can be deceptive. "Of course I look well Lily. Why would I not?" asked Remus with a slight smirk, though he looked slightly put off at her remark. Lily blushed slightly as she realised that she had unwittingly spoken out her thoughts. Avoiding his eyes she hastily asked "To the Prefect's compartment then?" "Isn't it a bit early? The train hasn't even started yet."
Pinning the Head Girl batch to her sweater Lily spoke "Well yes, but I thought as Head Girl I should go early and be ready for the meeting. And you as Head Boy should accompany me." she added smirking. Looking at her sideways Remus spoke quietly "I am not Head Boy. Don't you think I would have written to you if I had been chosen. Speaking of writing how come you haven't written this summer? You know I can't start correspondence since I don't have an owl."
Remus's question brought to the forefront of her mind the three horrible months of summer she had had to endure altermatitng between Cokeworth and Surrey. "Don't get me started on that topic, Remus. This summer has been an absolute nightmare. My sister is getting married during Christmas, so there's been a lot of bonding between the two families. With Vernon's family coming over so frequently, I couldn't risk keeping Carrie at the house. So I sent her off to Dorcas with a note." she fumed before adding "And what do you mean you are not Head Boy? It can't be anyone else. You are the best candidate among the seventh year prefects. OK I agree that you are a bit of a mischief maker, but you manage to wriggle yourself before the lot of you are caught. And you are slightly unsuccessful in reining in those morons you call call friends, but come on no one has been successful with penetrating their thick skulls with the language of rules. So they can't hold that against you -"
Remus stopped her mid rant as they boarded the train "I can't figure out whether you are praising me or criticizing me. I am not the Head Boy, and all you can do about it is deal with it. So there. Anyway its not like the other prefects don't make good prospects. You get on well with Benjy so you could figure out a pretty good working shcedule with him. Dearbon is a pretty amicable bloke too. And then you have - " Remus trailed off as he spoke of the Slytherin prefect, with a dark look crossing his face.
"And then we have our very own Severus Snape' muttered Lily darkly, desparately hoping that it wasn't Severus. She didn't think she could handle working with him so closely after their fallout. Glancing at her sour face Remus however chuckled "Chill Lily, its not Snape." "Oh, then Benjy or Caradoc it is then. But how do you know it isn't Snape?' Glancing at Remus as they waded through the crowd in the now moving train, Lily found that he had a very mischievious look about his face. Just as she was about to enquire about the cheshire grin spreading across his lips and uttered "I just know. I am a Marauder remember, I have my ways. Don't get your hopes up, though. It's neither Benjy nor Caradoc." he halted the question bubbling at her lips with a raised hand and patient smile and said "Its James."
For a moment Lily was taken aback, shocked even. But then she burst out laughing, earning looks from her fellow students "Good one, Remus. You almost got me with that one. But I would categorize your comment as more of a horror story than a joke." Remus just shrugged, muttering "Suit yourself."
As they reached the Prefect's compartment Remus stepped forward to open the door with a smirk on his face. And to Lily's utter shock it was indeed James Potter who was sitting on the seat with the Head Boy badge pinned to his shirt. "OK enough of this joke. From whom did you take the badge Potter? This waiting in the dark is killing me. Out with it" she asked looking at both the boys.
"Hate to break it to you, Evans, but it really is mine" he said with a nervous smile and produced a letter out of his pocket to her. When she scanned the letter, it had the same content as hers, except for the name 'Mr J. Potter'.
She looked up from the letter and glanced around the room for Remus, but found that he had discreetly gone out and closed the door behind him. After a moment of silence Lily burst out "This isn't fair. The bet certainly wasn't fair. You lied Potter. This is downright cheating."
"Calm down Evans, its just a Potions project. Not a big deal. Not like you have to give me your galleons." "Its not about the Potions project Potter, but about the principle of the matter. Its not done. I refuse to cede that you won."
"A bet's a bet, I'm afraid. Nothing to be done about it. Uphold the principle Evans. Atleast one of us should do it." he said smirking slightly. However, before she could respond, the door of the compartment slid open and Lily uttered a 'finally' under her breath as she saw who the intruders were, and instantly her expression shifted from a slight scowl to a bright smile. Within seconds she had marched forward and threw her arms around two of her best friends Janet Davies and Emily Macmillan who were accompanied by Remus Lupin and Benjy Fenwick.
